LOCATION: Canal Street Tavern
LINEUP: Karin, Linford, Will Sayler, Paul Moak, Rick Plant
REVIEW BY: Bruce Lachey, Jason Neeley
I went to the Canal Street show last night, it was great stuff. Susan Enan opened, I liked her even more this time around and finally bought the EP. Great sounding stuff. Another opener was Jen Chapin who had a great voice, and she played with just an upright bassist who was also technically great. I couldn't stand watching them though. It was like they were taught in music school how to physically emote, and after a third of a song it seemed like they were doing some Mad TV skit instead of a real show. Her lyrics were not so good either. But hey, at least it wasn't The Children's Hour. OtR took to the floor pretty late, and kicked off to a peppy start. It was amazing they could fit as much gear as they did onto that tiny Canal Street stage. No vibes and no sitar, but the rest seemed to be there. The set: Bothered Show Me She Nobody #1 Suitcase Jesus In New Orleans Anything At All Lifelong Fling/Ain't No Sunshine Ohio Professional Daydreamer All I Need Is Everything Orphan Girl When I Go My Love Is A Fever Cruel + Pretty Changes Come The only two I didn't like better live were Suitcase and Anything At All. Dunno why. They didn't do it for me. OK, at any rate - I'm committed at a party tonight and can't make the show, but SOMEONE, for the love of sod, PLEASE take detailed notes! What was played, and how, etc.. Tonight is going to be a goofy show, Paul Moak (guitarist extraordinaire) is heading home for his grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. So it likely will be a strange strange event tonight. Gimme details!! Let me know who plays what, etc. K+L said it likely will be a quite modified set from the rest of the tour.Jason Neeley
Followed the band from town-to-town again last night, it was good fun. I'll just skip straight to the review. Bothered 3.1.1a Show Me She Nobody #1 Suitcase Jesus in New O Anything at All Lifelong Fling -> No Sunshine Ohio Professional Daydreamer All I Need is Everything Orphan Girl When I Go My Love is a Fever Cruel & Pretty Changes Come Now, without speaking in too many contradictions I'm going to try to describe what I think made this show different. After about 20 shows under the current band lineup, I got the impression that they were bored with playing perfect carbon copies. IMO the first half of the tour they spent trying to more closely approach the reference standard version of their songs. As with the laidback Crittenden show, I thought last night that they were custom tailoring the versions, letting them out in some places and tightening them up in others. Instead of sound pouring out of the machine, each musician was carefully trodding his or her own path. I guess sometimes the music is bigger than the sum of the parts being played. I look to "Bothered" as the reference point for not exploding in dynamic synergy. Every venue has a signature sound, this room had been tuned to a VERY deep bass and Rick adjusted his bassline. It was not the humming, multi-octave, bouncy and active sound, but rather a punchy low kick (thereby earning alpha status to a new Bothered revision). I didn't notice the plexiglass shield being in front of Will's drums but I did notice the drums were really loud in the mix. Speaking of the mix, because there was seating in 270 degrees around the stage, the room doesn't have a left and a right PA system, they have ceiling mounted horns in an array. So here you have a few examples of how the dispersed fidelity affected how the show was played. Also, I want those fans who ragged on Paul's early shows to stand up and make themselves accountable for taking "the edge" off of his playing. There's still "When I Go" and "Changes Come" for the sonic meltdown, but compared to the first night of the tour, this show didn't ROCK. In the same way that the solo on "The World Can Wait" has been mellowed out (and removed from the set), stage left has been subdued. Hopefully by Seattle he'll be curious enough to venture into new ground. It was the little things that I noticed, like Karin's timing on My Love is a Fever. It was extremely precise and intentional, but it was constantly testing my own sense of rhythm. Of course she's always changing up this song, I think I'll call this "unpredictably syncopated". Sometimes the music gets pulled out, and sometimes it just flows. This show felt like a push. I don't want to sound like anyone was distracted, or wasn't trying, or playing together with the rest, because this adjustment takes more attention than just flowing through the songs by rote. Also, it was a Friday night, and in my experience on nights when the audience's judgement is impaired, bands like to mess around with what they're expected to play. As if to give a drunk's shoulder a push to see if he stumbles. Don't get me wrong people, this was a great show. I believe it was the best version of Changes Come that I've seen yet. And I'm sure the recording will do justice to the other songs after the fact. Other notes... Paul will not be at Saturday's show because of his Grandparents' 60th anniversary. I recorded the show to DAT and I think it's safe to say this one will be hitting the Vine in record time. Came out great, except for the part where I had setup my micstand next to the ONLY 2 people talking in the entire room. Oh, they were polite as heck about it, didn't talk in between songs or the quiet parts, just made sure to increase the volume of the conversation with the song being played. After Suitcase it became obvious that this wasn't a passing comment or two and they intended to talk all night long. Gads people, what are you thinking? Why did you waste your $15 bucks at the door if you're not gonna listen?